To: AugustWest who wrote (342 ) 11/2/1998 5:45:00 PM From: Platter Read Replies (2) | Respond to
OK August, what about this one...From Briefing.com "DAYTRADER: Spend, spend, spend. Spin, spin, spin. Will e-commerce companies ever make any money? The majority of the analysts who cover Internet stocks are betting their reputations that many will, which is why they put spin on almost every quarterly earnings report, despite the ever increasing stream of red-ink being manufactured by these companies . But it appears that the spin-doctors are beginning to lose their ability to smooth over every disappointing qtr with investors, as the market has lost patience with companies that initially promised profits in a few years but have done nothing but come back to the market with their hands out (i.e. additional equity and debt offerings). In fact, e-commerce companies aren't even moving in the right direction on a bottom-line basis. Which is why most of the e-commerce stocks have taking a flogging over the past three-four months. Except for Amazon.com. This is the company that analysts, investors, CEOs of other e-commerce companies are depending on to prove that the pie is large enough for a number of companies to fill themselves, despite the intensely competitive nature (e.g. price wars, marketing blitzes, price comparison shopping) of the Internet and its low barrier to entry. However, investors are finally beginning to wake up to the fact that many of these companies will never turn a profit and will either be walking dead or just plain dead-and-buried in a matter of two or three years. The table below lists financial and stock performance information on some of the leading e-commerce companies. Because these companies take "one-time" charges every qtr, we are including them in the data listed within the table. As the "Losses Past 4 Qtrs" column indicates, the majority are falling deeper into the red each qtr.
